Heathrow says third runway could open in 2039 as 2035 target slips

Heathrow says its proposed third runway could open as late as 2039, four years after the government’s 2035 target, because it expects construction and opening to take up to a decade after planning permission. The airport aims to secure that permission by 2029, making the opening date a projection rather than an approved timetable.

The airport told Reuters that opening within a decade of permission has always been its core scenario. It described the 2035 target as ambitious and said meeting it would have required significant changes to regulation and policy. Heathrow also told the BBC it would work with ministers, airlines and other stakeholders to advance the application.

The decisions still ahead

The Department for Transport’s April programme letter set out an operational runway by 2035 and a development consent order by 2029 as objectives. It assigns the promoter responsibility for planning, financing and building the expansion, subject to the outcome of its application. Heathrow’s latest account therefore highlights a gap between the government’s operational goal and the airport’s stated delivery scenario.

A draft government policy statement sets out how any Heathrow expansion proposal would be assessed, including its effects on air quality, climate, communities and noise. The Department for Transport says the draft does not grant permission to build. It must be finalised and considered by Parliament, and a promoter would still have to submit a planning application through the statutory process.

The department told the BBC on 26 September that there was no live planning application for a third runway. It said the timeline had always been ambitious and that it would continue working with Heathrow and other stakeholders on the framework needed to consider an application. Whether the runway opens in 2035, 2039 or at another time depends on decisions and work that have yet to take place.